Posts Tagged ‘chief of defence staff’

For 5 years, Treasury Board Secretariat has relied on the fallacy that military members do not speak out. That was a bad call.

Canadian Armed Forces are trained to do the right thing, never pass a fault, and to stand up for those who cannot. That is what a five year battle has become for countless military families.

Personally, the fight has cost me all, and there are no assurances that I will be successful, however I have had an impact. No more to troops have to suffer, applications are now being forwarded to TBS (without the need for a grievance), the word is out that this branch of our own government cannot count on the silence of the troops and Treasury Board Secretariat has been exposed of having a blanket policy denying 100% of the applications which were supposed to help military families when relocating from depressed markets.

In January, I take the Crown to federal court again. The last appearance, we won. Hands down, caught the TBS cheating and yet, they did not pay. Now, we have a new hired gun. Take a moment and look at our side of the story in our Argument, and share your opinion. Should any “public servant”, employee, military member have to fight this hard for their entitlements, or to protect their family? Should any one have to re-fight in court to have it settled?

On January 19th, follow me once more down the rabbit hole and stare into the faces of our Government who decry…

“we do not owe our soldiers a duty of care”

in an attempt of getting out of following their own reimbursement policy.

We are having another go at the Federal Government who continues to deny Home Equity Assistance to the majority of those entitled.

We are filing in Federal Court again tomorrow (14 Sept 2015), in a follow on court case from our last victory. The current status is that we won in Federal Court, TBS was ordered to review the file and they screwed it up, maipulated the data and caused further delay.

That being said, I wanted to provide an update to the several hundred affected CAF members and thousands of supporters.

Once again, after winning in Federal Court, our battle has been extended by Treasury Board Secretariat. We find ourselves having to take TBS back into Federal Court to finalize our claim for Home Equity Assistance. Our family has carried this load for 5 years now, won our grievances and won in federal court, but TBS continues to SPEND YOUR TAX DOLLARS denying our entitlements.

The only way we can get accountability is by voting, and taking them to court.

We are once again asking for financial support to assist with this legal battle, so that the TBS will be held accountable to follow their own policies, instead of getting away with the use of Blanket Denials for hundreds of Canadian Military families. Details available at www.healoss.wordpress.com

On May 23, 2014 the Federal Court of Canada decided the Federal Treasury Board Secretariat’s interpretation of the policy for compensating Canadian Forces members who lose money on the sale of a house due to a posting was unreasonable.

McInnes Cooper’s Dan Wallace represented Canadian Forces Major Marcus Brauer in the first Canadian court challenge of the Treasury Board’s interpretation of this policy. Major Brauer lost $88,000 when he was reposted and forced to sell his home in Bon Accord, Alberta (40 km north of Edmonton). The policy says the Secretariat will reimburse members who sell their home at a loss for 100% of the loss – if the Secretariat decides the “community” is in a “depressed market”.

For two years, Major Brauer pursued full reimbursement of his loss through the Canadian Forces and Treasury Board’s internal processes on the basis Bon Accord is a community in a “depressed” housing market. However, the Secretariat maintained that Major Brauer’s community was the entire Edmonton Metropolitan Area – not Bon Accord – which was not “depressed”, so he was not entitled to full reimbursement for his loss under the policy. Major Brauer’s only recourse was to ask the Federal Court to review the Board’s decision, find it unreasonable, and order it to reconsider it. The Federal Court did just that:

Reasonableness. For the first time, a Court decided that the Treasury Board’s decisions interpreting this policy must be reviewed on a standard of reasonableness (as opposed to correctness).

Unreasonable Interpretation. The Court decided the Treasury Board’s interpretation of the word “community” for the purpose of deciding whether the market was “depressed” would render the policy virtually meaningless – and was unreasonable.

Reconsideration. The Court did not have the power to apply the policy, so did what it could: ordered the Treasury Board Secretariat to reconsider Major Brauer’s request – but also that the “community” is Bon Accord.

Legal Costs. In a rare move, the Court also ordered the Federal Government to reimburse Major Bauer for 100% of his legal costs – a higher scale than that which courts normally order.

The federal government has filed a motion to strike down a proposed class action lawsuit by a 33-year veteran of the Armed Forces who lost $72,000 on the sale of his house when he was posted to another base.

Documents filed in Federal Court indicate the Justice Department wants the matter thrown out before it is certified, arguing it is destined to fail, amounts to a criticism of government policy and is better suited to a judicial review.

“It challenges an economic policy decision of government to limit the amount of reimbursement paid to members who sell their private homes at a loss,” states the 24-page memorandum filed last month.

RELATED STORIES

“The claim has no reasonable prospect of success and should be struck.”

A hearing date has not been set for the matter.

The original suit was filed in September 2014 by master warrant officer Neil Dodsworth, who took a loss on the sale of his home near Edmonton when he was posted to Kingston, Ont., in 2009.

A member can receive 100 per cent compensation of their loss through the home-equity assistance program if they sell their home in a housing market that is deemed by the Treasury Board to be depressed.

But the board disputes what is constitutes a depressed market in Canada. Dodsworth says it also lumps smaller communities into larger centres, like Edmonton, where the housing market is not considered to be depressed.

Dodsworth filed for compensation for the entire amount that he lost, but was told he would only receive $15,000 since his home in Morinville, about 35 kilometres outside Edmonton, was not in a depressed market.

The policy states that a depressed market is one that has seen real estate values drop by 20 per cent or more. Dodsworth argued that the value of his home went down 29 per cent over two years.

He says in the statement that he lost all the equity in his home, took out a $21,000 bank loan to cover part of his mortgage and volunteered for a seven-month tour in Afghanistan to earn more money.

Heather Domereckyj, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Board, said in an email that she could not comment since the matter is before the courts.

Dan Wallace, Dodsworth’s lawyer, said his client was dismayed with the motion to dismiss the case.

“He’s disappointed,” Wallace said Thursday. “I told him when we started that this could be expected. He knew this was going to take a long time.”

The case is similar to another one involving Maj. Marcus Brauer, who received $15,000 for a $88,000 loss he took on the sale of his house in Alberta.

Brauer launched a judicial review, which led a Federal Court judge to order the Treasury Board to review its decision.

I have been away from the computer lately, as I have had to change jobs after 26 years. Seems that a few supervisors wanted to peek into my medical records, and they got caught. My first day back at work and I got my posting message. I could not make this stuff up!

The following link provides the current details on the Government of Canada’s latest attempt to delay and deny the relocation entitlements ordered by the Federal Court of Canada.

I encourage all military families to have a look at the lengths that the government is going through to deny us entitlements on relocations. $73,000 equity loss, over $250,000 in losses, health, career, QOL etc.

Comments welcomed. Assessments of the Government’s motion to strike are also welcomed by the layperson, barrack room lawyer and Barrister alike.

If you think you are affected, you may contact the legal team directly at: HEAClassaction@mcinnescooper.com

A five year battle is playing out in the Canadian court system. Systematically denied relocation entitlements have left military families destroyed, homeless and bankrupt. The Treasury Board of Canada has already been caught in Federal Court however they continue to attempt to engineer a solution which will save a few bucks, and prevent soldiers from getting their entitlements. The entire case can be found here: http://www.courts.ns.ca/Supreme_Court/documents/Statementofclaim.pdf

HEA Timeline Presentation
This presentation is made to assist with the sharing of information on the systemic denial of Home Equity Assistance by Treasury Board Secretariat

Access to Information Requests

A201000410
Correspondence sent by R. Singh regarding the Integrated Relocation Program and all correspondence between R. Singh and his superior officers, his deputy minister and others for the period of June 1, 2008 to October 29, 2010.

A201101059
All documents relating to the Litigation Management Unit that have been received or sent by Michelle d’Auray, Daphne Meredith, Andrew Saxton or Tony Clement from June 1, 2011 to March 15, 2012.

A-2010-01371
Original and complete text used by CDS to render his decision on Grievance Case Summary 2010-043 dated 16 Sept 2010.

A201100175
Background briefing notes prepared by the Treasury Board Secretariat for the new President, the Honorable Tony Clement.

A201000690
Copy of the current contract for relocation services between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Brookfield Global Relocation Services and Treasury Board Secretariat.

A-2010-00699
Communications from TBS re: applications for Home Equity Assistance in a depressed market (2007-2010). Number of CF members who have applied for + granted 100% HEA during this time. Any policy clarification or research studies on depressed markets.

A201000469
Copy of the following documents: the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act; Debt Write Off Regulations; Treasury Board Policy on Claims and Ex-Gratia payments; and the Treasury Board Risk Management Policy.

A201000295
Copies of 47 briefing notes on various issues sent to the President of the Treasury Board.

ATI A-2012-00942
All memos, reports, emails, briefing notes, minutes of meetings held within DND and any letters to or from TBS between 1 Jan 09-5 Aug 12 on the subject of 100% HEA, depressed markets or policy…

Relocation funds reported to be shifted to Mental Health
additional funds for mental health were transferred from the military relocation envelope shows the government is making up a “patchwork” strategy on the fly, he said, calling MacKay’s announcement “pre-emptive damage control.”

Definition of Community
The following is a description of one of the communities in question (Bon Accord, Alberta) which is, in accordance with Federal, legal and logical definitions, a community as required in the CFIRP HEA policy. This information was provided to TBS as part o

Donations
Although we won in Federal Court, the Treasury Board continues to deny payment. Please support our second attempt at justice.

Legislation

Bill C-15
Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act-An Act to amend the National Defence Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts

PC Number: 2012-0861
PC Number: 2012-0861: His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Treasury Board and the Minister of National Defence, makes the annexed Canadian Forces Grievance Process Ex Gratia Payments Order.

Lamer Report
The First Independent Review by the Right Honourable Antonio Lamer P.C., C.C., C.D. of the provisions and operation of Bill C-25, An Act to amend the National Defence Act. “Those responsible for organizing and administrating Canada’s military justice sy

Constitution Act
Constitution Act: Legal Rights Marginal note:Life, liberty and security of person 7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justic

It's Your Move (Brookfield Global Relocation Services) 2010-11
These exerpts show the definition of community as communicated to the Canadian Forces, and to the Third Party Contractors (i.e. realtors who conduct the depressed market ananlysis of the community. Surely, this substantiates the term community as a town.

PERSPECTIVES from the Canadian Forces Grievance Board-May 2011
This decision is said to be based on an email notification provided by a staff officer at TB in May 2009 to the effect that there are no “depressed markets” in Canada. It was later explained to the Board that the matter had not been pursued “given o

Canadian Forces Grievance Board 2012 Annual Report
The Board firmly believes that something must be done to assist Canadian Forces members who have been affected by the Home Equity Assistance policy. The Board has suggested to the Chief of the Defence Staff that this significant issue requires a considere

Case # 2012-140
the CDS agreed with the Board that the situation incurred by CF members with the application of the current Home Equity Assistance (HEA) policy is egregious. Therefore, the CDS confirmed the Board’s systemic recommendation submitted in previous files o